


DrabbLus Series 7: Miscellaneous

by universeEnthusiast



Series: The AnthoLuGy [8]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, these are short and rare pairs but maybe someone will like them!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-06-01 08:30:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 7,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15139184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universeEnthusiast/pseuds/universeEnthusiast
Summary: the last few drabbles from tumblr. these pairings only show up once or twice, so until they hit 3 or more drabbles it isn't enough to make a new work for them, so they get put in here.enjoy!!





	1. Leap (Rena Noir/Chat Rouge)

Patrol is different with every teammate, and every teammate knows this.

For Chat Noir, how he feels when he gets home depends entirely on which teammate he patrols with.

Sometimes, it’s a good thing. Sometimes he needs the easy talks of music and movies that come with Carapace.

Sometimes he needs the bittersweet attention from his Lady to remind his heart where it is supposed to stay - no closer and no further away than it is.

Other times, it can be dangerous.

Like with Queen Bee, who annoys him to no end, and has even driven him to waste a cataclysm or two on the worst nights.

Patrolling with Rena Rouge is dangerous, too, but not in the same way.

Rena Rouge is dangerous because she is unbound.

She is as free as he longs to be, and when he gets the chance to be unbound by her side... a small part of him fears he’ll never be able to take anything less.

It’s exhilarating.

The way the wind feels against them as they soar through it from building to building, tossing their hair into the sky in a way that makes Rena’s head look like it’s on fire.

They are grinning, and panting, and there is sweat on their brows. They feel no pain but they will be tired in the morning.

They leap from ledge to ledge, roll along roofs and balconies and swing from streetlamps.

There is nothing in their way, nothing holding them back.

Ladybug would warn of rules, Carapace is not the active type, and Queen Bee is just insufferable.

But Rena Rouge and Chat Noir are explosions of energy, bursts of movement that cannot be contained.

~~Not even by the woman they both love the most.~~

They go further through the city still, rushing past landmark and apartment building alike, in a strange soundless dance only they understand.

At one alley, Chat dares to leap before she does, and Rena tackles him on the other side.

They wrestle and laugh and rise to chase one another back across the city, back to the regroup spot.

He doesn’t manage to catch her again.

Perhaps it’s for the best, he thinks as he returns to his room. He knows what it’s like to be caught.

He’ll let her have her freedom.

So long as he can run with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another one in the dialogueless style


	2. Probability (Kimax)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> requested by an anon on tumblr for classmates being suspicious of adrien and marinette never having been akumatised

“Hey, Max,” Kim elbowed him, jolting him from his ruminations. “Whatcha thinking about?”

“Marinette and Adrien,” Max replied immediately.

“What about ‘em?” Kim asked, setting his lunch bag on the table.

“They are the only two people in this school that have never been Akumatised.”

“So?” Kim took a bite out of his sandwich.

“I’m attempting to figure out why.” Max set his pen and pad on the table.

“They’re just nice people.” Kim said through a mouthful of ham and lettuce.

“Mylene is also widely considered to be a nice person.” Max reread all his notes. “But she was Akumatised. Even Rose has been Akumatised, and she cries after she kills a mosquito. It appears ‘level of niceness’ is no factor in one’s ability to be Akumatised.”

“Ok, but there’s like a million people in Paris,” Kim shrugged. “Papillon probably hasn’t got to them yet.”

“There are approximately 2.3 million people in Paris, Kim,” Max corrected. “And according to the rate of Akumatisations, the amount of time that has passed between Papillon’s emergence and today, and the locations and contexts of all previously known akumas -”

It was then that Max noticed that Kim looked lost.

“It’s just that there doesn’t seem to be any reason that they haven’t been akumatised.” Max sighed. “There’s nothing different about them from anyone else.”

“Well, they’re always disappearing during attacks,” Kim took another bit of his sandwich. “Maybe they can outrun him somehow.”

“Kim, you are the top runner in the school in terms of both speed and endurance,” Max smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose. “If you couldn’t outrun Papillon, no-one can.”

“I dunno, have you seen how Marinette moves in gym?” Kim pointed out. “And I’ve seen Adrien in the locker room, he’s not as twiggy as he looks under those shirts. Maybe they have some secret technique for avoiding Papillon.”

“Perhaps,” Max nodded. “I’ve always wondered where they go when Akumas are around. I wrote down a few possibilities.”

Kim craned his neck to read, but Max just sighed and smiled and spun the notepad.

“You don’t think they’re really running off to make out in closets during every attack, do you?” Kim frowned.

“No, considering all the evidence, that’s about as probable as pigs achieving unassisted flight.” Max chuckled.

“Guess it’ll just be a mystery forever, huh?” Kim tossed the sandwich wrap into the nearby bin.

“I’m sure one day we will find out what they do when they disappear, but yes,” Max nodded, putting his pad and pen back into his bag and joining Kim in standing to head for class. “Until then, it will likely remain a mystery.”


	3. Rough Draft (Marcanael)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for rey adrienregreste on tumblr, who needed some cheering up

“Oh, Marc!” Nathanael calls before he reaches the art room doorway to leave.

Marc’s eyes shoot up, and instinctively, he covers his papers with his arms.

“I’m not close enough to read them, silly,” Nathanael shakes his head.

“Sorry,” Marc blushes and looks away.

“It’s fine.” Nath smiles. “I just wanted to check if you have the writing for this month’s issue.”

“Oh!” Marc squeaks and immediately begins shuffling his papers. “I have the rough draft here somewhere.”

“That’ll work,” Nathaniel turns around and heads back over to him.

Marc panics, the non-existant pressure bearing down on him much like his creative project partner, and hands Nathanael the first messily-stapled pile of draft papers he sees the words “reverser and mightillustrator” on.

“Nice,” Nath takes it and begins to read.

Marc goes to put away his personal project, the one he doesn’t want anyone to see while Nath is distracted. He digs around in his workpile, but can’t seem to find it.

It’s as he picks up the draft pile he reads the words ‘issue 37′ at the top of, he realises his mistake.

He’s almost too afraid to look at Nathanael’s face, for fear of what would come after.

Marc looks anyway.

Nathanael’s cheeks are almost as red as his hair.

Marc’s face goes a same color.

“That’s the wrong…” he chokes out. “Oh, no…”

“Is this…” Nath whispers. “How you really feel?”

Marc wants to throw all his papers up into the air as cover, and run away and jump into the Seine, never to be heard from again.

But he nods and closes his eyes, waiting for the rejection, the hurtful words, the shame.

Instead he hears papers shuffling, and looks up to see Nathanael holding out a piece of paper.

On it is a rough sketch of Reverser and Mightillustrator caught in a kiss. Several rough sketches of the same, and some scattered worded notes on angles and ideas to be tested later.

“Seems… we’ve been having the same ideas.” Nathanael swallows loudly.

“So… are we taking this past the rough draft stage?” Marc whispers.

Nathanael’s answer is just to lean down and kiss him.


	4. Time (Plooroo)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> requested by an anon on tumblr, done because plagg x nooroo is important to me

Plagg used to forget about time.

He was, depending on how one looked at it, older than it was, and it had never mattered to him anyway.

He existed outside of it, with his fellows, and nothing mattered but him and them and all that they did together.

After being bonded to the stone, Plagg quickly learned the importance of keeping tabs on it.

His first holder became old before his very eyes, and Plagg had not noticed, and one day he simply woke up back in the Miracle Box.

His holder had died.

Plagg had never encountered this feeling before. It could very well have destroyed him, if kwamis by nature had not been indestructible.

He recovered, in time, but it never got any easier.

He watched for centuries as time ran away from him, stretching and bending and pulling at everything he saw.

Through millennia of pain, Plagg became wise.

Wise enough that when he found out what had been happening to Nooroo, he joined the dots that no-one else did, saw the pattern he had seen many times before, and was even seeing now in his young holder.

Plagg felt more emotions at once than he had ever felt in his entire existence, but experience had also made it easy to hide things.

It was no surprise that those feelings all came bursting out on the day Nooroo was finally returned to them.

===

Kwamis often adopt human behaviours like hugs and kisses, Sass and Tikki told Marinette and Adrien, simply because those behaviours are useful to them sometimes.

Usually they only use such affectionate behaviours to show honest appreciation to their human holders, or their holders’ inner circles, but there are exceptions.

Plagg is quickly making himself one of those exceptions.

He will not let go of Nooroo. He holds him, day and night, and Nooroo holds back.

Plagg is intent on protecting him. He is angry. He knows the pain Nooroo has been through, he is even hurt on his behalf, and refuses to let anything like it happen again, especially to Nooroo.

Nooroo is still scared. He is out of danger, and will most likely not be in any more if Plagg has anything to say about it, but the kind of scars given by bad masters run deep for kwamis.

Plagg is determined to help Nooroo, and apparently that means a lot of hugs.

Nooroo is far from complaining.

It may take him a year, maybe a decade, maybe a century, but Nooroo will heal, and Plagg is not letting go till then.

He might not even let go after that, if Nooroo wants to keep holding on as much as he does.


	5. Shirt (Part One) (OT4/Alyadrininette)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an ot4 story i wrote on a whim that inspired another fic and had a sequel requested by an anon

“…Alya?”

Marinette’s voice sounded quiet and anxious, never a good thing.

“You ok, girl?” Alya knocked on the shower cubicle door.

“I think…” Marinette sounded very, very nervous. “I think Chloe stole my clothes…”

Alya got right in close to the door and whispered for Marinette to open it. Even though Chloe hadn’t been confirmed as the culprit yet, Marientte’s clothes were indeed gone. Still dripping wet from the shower, her best friend shook as she hid behind the door in embarrassment.

“What am I going to do?” Marinette squeaked, shrinking into the corner. “My gym clothes are dirty. She took my underwear…”

“I have some spare jeans in my locker,” Alya shook her head, pretty pissed that anyone, Chloe or not, had stolen Marinette’s clothes. “But no shirt. Put on your towel and check your locker for anything. I’ll go and ask the boys if they have a shirt you can borrow.”

Marinette nodded and Alya turned on her heel and speedwalked out to the courtyard.

Nino and Adrien were about to make it too close to the next class’s door for her to stop them, so Alya yelled “heads up!” and lobbed her phone at them. Incredibly, Adrien caught it midair as it passed him, and he looked a little stunned that he’d done so, as though he hadn’t expected to. As she had hoped, Nino and Adrien stopped dead.

She kept running till she reached them.

“Here’s your phone back,” Adrien offered, raising an eyebrow. “Why did you throw it?”

“Someone stole Marinette’s clothes from the shower,” Alya panted a bit. “I need to know if you guys have spare shirts in your lockers.”

The boys looked at one another, shocked and offended on Marinette’s behalf.

“Marinette cant come to class naked and I’m not leaving her in the bathroom for the rest of the day.” Alya told them quickly. “Will you please come check your lockers?”

“Let’s go,” Nino said, immediately beginning in the direction of the locker room.

“Wont we be late for class?” Adrien asked, but he was following them hurriedly anyway.

“Marinette’s way more important than class, dude,” Nino made a face.

“Youre damn right she is,” Alya nodded once they reached their destinations. “Now go check.”

Nino and Adrien immediately headed for their lockers.

“Marinette?” Alya called.

“Yeah, here,” Marinette’s pale arm waved from the locker aisle a few feet away. “I found some clean panties, but nothing else. This is awful.”

Alya walked over to find Marinette, hair still soaked, clinging the towel to herself for dear life. She entered her locker combination and retrieved a pair of jeans she’d stashed in case of emergency, which would now be called to duty, and handed them to the quiet and upset Marinette.

“Alya?” Adrien asked. “Sorry, we couldnt find any-”

The two boys rounded the corner just in time to lay eyes on poor covered-but-still-pretty-naked Marinette, before she squeaked and hid behind Alya.

“No shirts?” She asked the stunned duo.

“Nothin’.” Nino said, quite red in the face. “Sorry.”

Adrien, wide eyed, immediately removed his white overshirt and then his black tee, startling everyone. Marinette gasped behind her hand, Nino tugged at his shirt collar and began to look around nervously as if checking for witnesses, and Alya stared blankly at the shirtless model Adrien Agreste as he approached them.

He offered the black tee to Marinette without a sound, and she in turn silently reached out and took it from him. They stared at one another, seemingly somehow communicating in a way that Alya didnt understand. Then Adrien turned away slightly, put on the white shirt again and began to button it up. Marinette swivelled so that her back was to the trio of friends and put on the gifted item.

Alyas jeans were perhaps one size too big, but that didnt matter right now. Marinette discarded the towel from beneath the comfortably oversized tee, took the jeans and put them on one leg at a time. While it was hard to tell thanks to the shirt, her trio of friends were pretty sure theyd all seen her panties at some point while she wrangled with the denim clothing. Marinette didnt say anything about it, and they didnt dare bring it up. Today had been wild enough already.

The four of them walked back to class, quite late and each very red in the face, and after a brief explanation to the teacher, were allowed to take their seats. Chloe looked absolutely infuriated till the bell rang, which gave her away. Sabrina dropped a plastic bag full of Marinette’s clothes on her desk as they passed them on their way out of class.

“Thanks for saving me today,” Marinette turned on her three friends as they reached the entrance to the lycee complex, ready to head home. “I’ll wash your stuff and bring it back tomorrow, I promise.”

“Nah, keep the shirt,” Adrien said, still a little red and looking at her with intense green eyes. “You look great in it.”

Marinette only gaped, completely broken by the words. Nino seemed pretty stunned too, and Alya made an incredulous smile. Then the bodyguard’s car beeped and Adrien smiled and waved and jogged off.

The three remaining friends just stood there in awe.


	6. Borrowed (Part Two) (OT4/Alyadrininette)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a sequel to the last chapter requested by an anon

“She’s late,” Nino said.

“She’s always late,” Alya reminded.

They stood on the steps, waiting for Adrien and Marinette. There were still three minutes before class, and they had time.

“She lives right there,” Nino sighed. “You’d think she’d be on time.”

“Cut her some slack, the girl’s a mess.” Alya joked.

Adrien’s car pulled up at the front of the school and he stumbled out and jogged to them, panting lightly.

“Sorry,” he huffed, leaning on his knees till he regained his breath. “Akuma. Near mansion. Had to make a break for the car once it was gone.”

“Easy dude,” Nino patted his back. “We’ve got a few minutes.”

“C’mon girl…” Alya watched the bakery like a hawk.

“Marinette’s not here yet?” Adrien asked, his voice returning to normal.

“Nope,” Alya said without looking away. “And she’s only got two minutes.”

“Should we go get her?” Adrien asked.

“She might still be getting dressed, dude,” Nino’s cheeks went a little red. “Best to wait.”

Suddenly, the distant sound of a door slam and yelling reached them. The yelling got louder as a black blob sprinted towards them.

Marinette, screaming and bolting for the front of class… wearing Adrien’s shirt, a pair of Alya’s old pyjama shorts, and some very worn out socks that once belonged to Nino.

Marinette almost made it all the way to the door, but she collided with Nino and sent them both tumbling.

Adrien immediately went to help them up and Alya followed, attempting to supress the laughter.

Marinette stayed there, atop Nino, for a moment, as if processing the current events in her mind, before panicking.

“I’m so sorry, Nino!” she exclaimed.

“It’s fine,” Nino wheezed in earnest.

Adrien offered them his hands and she took one and clambered up to help Nino up too.

“That’s, uh…” Alya offered, a smug look on her face. “An interesting outfit, M.”

“What?” Marinette asked, and then looked down at herself.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her entire face went red.

There was a tense silence, broken only by the bell for homeroom.

Finally, Marinette gave a muffled whine of embarrassment and hid her face in her hands.

“Oh, no, Marinette,” Adrien went to hug her. “C’mon, it’s okay…”

“NO IT IS NOT,” she hissed, but didn’t fight the hug. “I CAME TO SCHOOL IN MY PYJAMAS!”

“You… you sleep in the socks I gave you?” Nino blinked.

“They keep my toes warm.” Marinette mumbled.

“Wait,” Adrien let go of her to try and get a clear view of her face. “You… you’re sleeping in my shirt?”

“Yes…” she whispered.

“What was that?” Alya said loudly, determined to have just a little fun with this.

“YES, I SLEEP IN YOUR CLOTHES!” Marinette yelped at them.

“Why?” Nino shook his head incredulously.

Marinette said nothing for a while, and after a minute or so, Alya was prepared to have mercy on her, to sigh and say something about Marinette going back to change clothes and grabbing her shoes and bag so they could finally get to class, but Marinette beat her to the punch.

“It’s nice to have you all close at night.” she told them, moving her hands and staring at the floor.

After another minute of stunned silence from all three of her companions, she took a deep shaky breath and swallowed.

“I’m going to go home and put on my clothes.” she said quietly.

“Alright then,” Adrien said. “Let’s go.”

Marinette did a double take, staring between the three of them with wide eyes.

“What?”

“Let’s go get you changed and grab your stuff.” Adrien said, slowly taking her hovering hand and a single step toward the bakery.

“But… you’ll be late…” Marinette protested weakly.

“If we go down, we go down together,” Nino said, taking her other hand and following Adrien’s lead. “Plus, it’ll be faster if we all help.”

“C’mon,” Alya came over to push Marinette gently from behind. “I’m gonna need a few minutes to tame that bedhead.”

Marinette said nothing, and just let them take her home to help her get ready without a fuss.

By the time they were on their way back to class, Marinette fresh and prepared for the day and the four of them walking hand in hand, she didn’t feel too bad about them knowing she slept in their clothes.

It meant she could have them close in the daytime, now, too.


	7. Boys (Caranette)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> caranette mid battle with meddling from chat noir

Marinette watched the world spin and jolt to a stop before her eyes. It left her a little dizzy.

“Sorry,” came the voice belonging to the man who’d snatched her off the street. “It was about to step on you.”

“Carapace!” came the familiar voice of Chat Noir. “Nice work, but you need to put her down and help me steer this thing toward the Seine.”

Marinette was still dizzy. She’d been on her way to the closest hiding spot to transform, but Carapace had interrupted her.

Nino could be too protective, sometimes.

“Marinette?” Carapace whispered. “Are you okay?”

“Marinette?!” Chat exclaimed, leaning to look at her. “Geez, princess, we gotta stop meeting like this.”

All she could do was groan as her stomach churned from the prior movement.

“C’mon, princess, we all know you’re stronger than this,” Chat Noir stepped closer. “C’mon, we can’t coddle you forever.”

“As much as we’d love to,” Carapace added and gave her cheek some wake-up paps. “C’mon, Mari, snap out of it, we all have to go.”

“Guys, just go,” she croaked. “Leave me here and go.”

“She’s still out of it. Chat, go,” Carapace told him. “I’ll drop her somewhere safe.”

Chat pouted.

“Fine, but if I find out you’re just playing hero to impress her, I’m telling Ladybug.” Chat warned and leapt away.

“Hang on, Mari,” Carapace turned and began to carry her across the rooftops. “I’m sorry, I was probably too rough with you.”

“You’re superheros,” she put her hand to her head as it steadied. “You’ve got super strength and all that. You’re fine.”

“You’re too sweet.” he replied, smiling. “Alright, home sweet home.”

He lowered her to the floor of her balcony.

“Stay out of trouble now,” Carapace pointed playfully. “As much as I’ve always wanted to be your personal hero, there are more people in this city that need saving.”

Marinette blushed at the words, and giggled weakly and gave a little wave as Nino flipped away into the cityscape again.

After a moment to be sure he was out of range and to make sure her vertigo was completely dispelled, Marinette was ready to transform.

“Tikki-”

“I KNEW IT!” Chat accused from behind the chimney stacks.

“CHAT!” she screeched, turning on him. “GET BACK TO THE AKUMA THIS INSTANT!”

He flinched as though she’d slapped him, and slowly, hesitantly, turned, stunned, and leapt away in kind.

“So what if Nino wants to flirt with me!” Marinette grumbled to herself as though she was chewing her long-time teammate out, throwing her hands up in the air. “He’s allowed to do that! You do!”

She transformed without further ado, and joined her teammates in the battle.

===

“Ladybug!” Chat complained before she could zip away. “Ladybug, tell Carapace he’s not allowed to flirt with civilians!”

“Dude!” Carapace complained.

“Chat, _you_ flirt with civilians.” Ladybug sighed. “Guys, we don’t have time for this.”

“Only one!” Chat protested. “Only Marinette! And that’s only cause she keeps getting caught in crossfire and we see her all the time!”

“So you can flirt with Marinette, but Carapace can’t?” Ladybug crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

Chat went red and pouted, opening his mouth to argue, but even he knew it was in vain. He knew he’d been caught out.

“You can’t tell Carapace what to do,” Ladybug said.

“I’ve been waiting years to be brave enough to flirt with Marinette, man,” Carapace told him. “You can’t stop me.”

Chat scowled and huffed.

“Promise, if Marinette’s not into it, then I’ll back off,” Carapace assured.

“But Carapace has the same right to try as you, kitty,” Ladybug shook her head. “Now let’s go home before we all detransform, please?”

As she turned she heard the low growl from Chat’s throat, and the exasperated whisper of “dude,” that answered.

“ _Boys_.” Ladybug sighed and shook her head and rolled her eyes as she soared away.


	8. Mhm (djwifi)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> djwifi with a kiss to shut up!

“I really think I’m close,” Alya said, flopping back onto the bed.

“Mhm.” Nino hummed, closing his music player and then the laptop itself.

It was well past bedtime, but Alya had been re-organising her corkboard, and he figured he may as well stay up to keep an eye on her.

It seemed, though, that five hours later, she still wasn’t tired, even though Nino was well and truly ready for sleep. She was just like this sometimes, and it was the only thing about her he had limited patience for.

“I have all the information, I just need to cross reference,” she went on, rubbing her eye behind her glasses. “And then check it against the list of suspects.”

“Mhm.” he reached down and placed the laptop on the floor.

“Maybe if I made a list of extra points of evidence, I could eliminate some early.” Alya continued, fingers steepled in thought.

“Mhm.” Nino repeated in a different intonation again, removing his glasses and putting them in the case on the nightstand.

Alya sat up, and for a moment Nino feared she wasn’t actually going to come to bed, but she began to undress and he gave a little sigh and laid down.

“Although-” she held out her arm in a staying gesture, tank top dangling off it, looking into nothing. “We have to remember that some facts may be deceptive.”

“Mhm.” he replied, putting his face in his hands.

Nino was so tired.

“I’ll really need to put in the hours if I’m gonna get an answer.” Alya sat back on the bed. “It could take a few days.”

“Mhm.” Nino agreed miserably.

“Lucky I’m on break, huh?” she mused, removing her glasses. “I’ve got plenty of time.”

“Mhm.” he muttered.

For a moment, it seemed she had nothing else to say, and Nino almost sighed in relief when she scooted into the sheets.

He reached over and turned out his lamp and got comfortable. Alya turned off hers and shuffled a little bit behind him.

Nino closed his eyes and began to drift easily to sleep, finally within reach of the badly-needed rest he craved-

“What do you think we should do first when we find him?” Alya’s voice came at full volume and jolted him awake. “Do you thi-”

Nino rolled over and grabbed his girlfriend’s face and smushed his lips against hers to halt her there, primarily as a gentle way to silence her endless musings, but also partly to remind himself that she was in fact his girlfriend, and that he shouldn’t be angry at her for keeping him up.

She kissed back, seemingly unaware or uncaring of the motivations behind the sudden attention, and a little hum escaped her throat.

He stopped kissing her then, lest they get the motivation to continue on to other activities, because as much fun as those would be, the only thing he wanted now was sleep.

“Please, Alya, for the love of god,” Nino begged in a whisper. “Go to sleep.”

After a moment of silence in the dark, Alya made a little tisk in realisation and hugged him.

“Goodnight, Nino.”

“Mhm,” was all he could reply with as he began to doze off again.


	9. Dare (chlolix)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chloe/alix with a dare

“What do _you_ want?” Chloe snapped from the bench.

“Well,” Alix deadpanned, regretting her previous decisions. “I did want a kiss, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”

“ _Excuse me_?” the blonde squinted. “You wanted a **_what_**?”

“A kiss.” the skater repeated, blinking, unimpressed with the current state of events.

Chloe’s face cycled through several colorful expressions, ranging from confused to disgusted and all the way to suspicious.

Alix almost let herself smile at it. She looked over at Kim, sulking by the chemistry classroom door.

She’d lost their earlier bet, but the price was once he didn’t want her to pay.

A challenge to kiss the other’s oldest crush.

She was almost glad it turned out this way, honestly, because sending Kim to attempt to kiss Nathaniel on a dare would probably not bode well for her friendships with either of them, especially now that Nathaniel finally had Marc and was doing something productive with all his drawing, and that Kim seemed to be getting ready to finally ask Max out this coming Valentines.

Chloe, however, was currently single, and thus, kissing her would be disrupting precisely zero relationships.

Of course, there was still the problem that Chloe, as attractive as Alix found her, was kind of vile to deal with. That, and Kim’s feelings for her seemed to linger enough to have the whole affair leave him a little sour.

All in all, a mixed bag, really.

“Why on Earth would _you_ want to kiss _me_?” Chloe scowled.

“Because you’re my hero,” Alix said with only the slightest hint of sarcasm. “And I wanted a chance to kiss the famous Queen Bee.”

Chloe’s demeanour seemed to change at this.

It seemed ego-stroking was a good way to a girl’s heart.

She pouted and considered, looking Alix up and down in a move that almost made the shorter girl’s cheeks go as pink as her hair.

“If it’s for one of my fans, I can’t really say no, can I?” Chloe stood up and huffed. “Pucker up, skater girl.”

Alix very nearly counted that sentence alone as a success, but a quick glance at Kim’s horrified and offended face made her want to go through with it.

The kiss itself wasn’t much to write home about - Alix lead, since it became clear within seconds that Chloe knew nothing about kisses, and Chloe let the kiss go on for a good half-minute - but the expressions on Kim’s and Chloe’s faces absolutely made Alix’s day.

When they stopped, the blonde was bright red in the face and gaping a little.

And Kim looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel.

“Thanks, Queen Bee,” Alix winked and walked off, calling the dare done and dusted, but she’d find herself thinking about it later.

They both would.


	10. Run (kimax)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kimax and andre glacees icecream

“Where do you think he’ll be?” Kim said, squinting into the distance, blocking the sun from his eyes.

“By his previous movements, I predict he’ll be by the Eiffel Tower today.” Max said, scrolling through his phone for clues.

“Hm.” Kim clicked his tongue. “That’s not far, we can probably run.”

“Maybe that’s not much of an exertion for you, Kim,” Max informed, smiling. “But I don’t run quite with quite the speed or endurance as you do.”

“By my calculations,” Markov the robot chimed in from Max’s shoulder. “Max has approximately thirty-five percent of the capacity for running that Kim does.”

“But I don’t have the money for a rickshaw,” Kim pouted. “Only for ice cream.”

“If only you could run for both of us,” Max chuckled.

Kim got an idea.

“Maybe I can,” he grinned.

“What do you mea-”

Max made an uncharacteristic yelp as Kim squatted in front of him and grabbed his arms, hooking them over his shoulders, and stood up again.

“Hold on,” Kim warned happily.

Max blushed and wrapped his legs around Kim’s torso, squeezing tight.

“Alright, let’s go!” Kim exclaimed, hooking his arms under Max’s knees, and taking a few experimenting steps.

Then he began to run.

Somehow, Kim found a pace that made the journey easy, and Max clung tight, a silly-feeling smile on his face.

When they arrived, Max even hesitated to let go.

“Ice cream please!” Kim requested of the large man at the cart.

Andre gave them a gentle smile and began to serve them something.

“Cherry and pistachio,” the ice-cream man handed them a single cone with two little spoons. “Enjoy it, boys, here you go.”

“Thank you, monsieur,” Max paid him with his change.

“Thanks, Andre!” Kim beamed, holding the ice cream as if it were a trophy.

The boys walked off to enjoy their cold treat, but Max was already considering asking Kim to run them back home again.


	11. Return (marigami)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kagaminette and a kiss for encouragement

Return  
(marigami with a kiss for encouragement)

===

“Come over here.” Kagami sighed.

Marinette walked over slowly, in part due to the rest of the crowd waiting in their seats for the announcement to board being in her way.

She paused where Kagami sat, clearly shy.

“Why are you here?” Kagami asked, closing her magazine and placing it atop her luggage.

“Someone should see you off.” Marinette spoke, but the nervousness showed in her voice.

“No-one else bothered to.” Kagami replied.

Marinette seemed to shrink at this.

“Cheng.” Kagami stood and stepped closer. “I’ll be back in a week.”

“It’s Dupain-Cheng,” Marinette bit her lip. “And, yeah, but you shouldn’t leave thinking nobody wants you back.”

Kagami huffed.

“It’s not exactly a well expressed sentiment.” she said.

Marinette pouted and reached up to play with her pigtail.

“I appreciate the thought, Che-” Kagami shook her head. “ _Dupain_ -Cheng, but I’m well aware that I’m not popular at your school.”

“Adrien likes you!” Marinette protested. “He just couldn’t come because his dad is…”

“I know.” Kagami said.

“And Kim and I like you, too,” Marinette assured. “You make us feel less alone!”

Well, _that_ was news.

“Le Chien is scared of me.” Kagami said.

“You can be pretty intimidating.” Marinette admitted, scritching nervously in her hair.

The announcement to board came over the loudspeaker.

Kagami turned and took her luggage.

“Thank you, Dupain-Cheng,” she sighed. “I’ll see you next month.”

“Kagami,” Marinette grabbed her wrist.

Kagami flinched at the unexpected touch, but Marinette seemed not to have noticed.

“Good luck at the tournament,” Marinette smiled. “You won’t need it, cause you’re already the best, but, s-still…”

Marinette leant over and kissed her cheek.

“Go win that trophy and bring it back to show everybody.” the blue-eyed girl smiled.

Kagami blinked, feeling as though her words had gotten impatient and went to board the flight ahead of her, and simply nodded.

Marinette smiled wider, still very clearly nervous, and began to back away, bumping into several other people and yelping sorries every few seconds.

Kagami boarded the plane without incident.

From the window beside her seat, she spotted Marinette at the window of the airport building, waving idly.

It occurred to her, as the plane took off, that there was no way Marinette could have known for sure that Kagami would see her waving.

But Marinette was waving anyway.

Kagami had to admit that it felt good knowing there was something - or, rather, someone - waiting for her to return.


	12. Visitors (no explicitly stated pairing)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> marinette has been getting an awful lot of visitors recently, and alya has been asked to tell her readers that there isn't anything suspicious about it

_It has come to the attention of |_

“No, no, too formal…”

_It|_

_It has long been known that|_

“No. Too casual…”

_It|_

_It is no secret that|_

“That’s more like it.”

_It is no secret that the little bakery|_

“Wait, no, too distant.”

_It is no secret that|_

_It is no secret that Marinette Dupain-Cheng|_

“Ugh, no, too direct.”

_It is no secret that |Marinette Dupain-Cheng_

_It is no secret that the home of |Marinette Dupain-Cheng_

“Yesss…”

_It is no secret that the home of Marinette Dupain-Cheng - and it’s three wonderful residents - are extremely popular in Paris. The T &S bakery and its owners are one of, if not THE best in the city, and Marinette herself is no face lost in the crowd. With several city-known achievements under her belt and a penchant for getting herself into situations involving both akumas and her extremely popular and famous friend, the young supermodel Adrien Agreste, Marinette is certainly a familiar face to many in Paris.|_

"Okay, strong start.“

_But it appears that Mlle. Marinette has been getting some very interesting visitors recently.|_

_This was brought to my attention by some Chat Noir enthusiasts quite a few months ago, who sent footage and photos of some preceding events to the appearance of Glaciator, the akuma known best for being the second to spur our heroes  to kiss (the first, retrospective evidence recently revealed, was Dislocoeur).|_

_I never published them here, bugheads, because, I’ll be honest… these photos spoke to me of something personal, maybe something intimate, between the black cat and the baker’s girl, and I know I hardly brush on the complexities of secret identities in these thinkpieces, but at the time I felt it best to leave well enough alone.|_

_Of course, we should all agree that the information that a superhero and a civilian are spending time together is definitely intriguing, and absolutely warrants|_

"Have to be careful… uhh…”

_Of course, we should all agree that the information that a superhero and a civilian are spending time together is definitely intriguing, and absolutely warrants discussion|_

“Mm, no…”

_Of course, we should all agree that the information that a superhero and a civilian are spending time together is definitely intriguing, and absolutely warrants|_

_Of course, we should all agree that the information that a superhero and a civilian are spending time together is definitely intriguing, and absolutely warrants deliberation.|_

“Yes.”

_But not a few months after this little rendezvous, the plot thickened.|_

_One superhero visitor brings to mind a few motivations. Perhaps they are star crossed lovers, perhaps simply familiar faces, but whatever the reason, it seems harmless and private, and thus they were left to their own.|_

_But with the advent of a second superhero popping by, I began to wonder if there was something deeper.|_

_This time, the visitor was the infamous Queen Bee, the one superhero with a publicly known identity.|_

_Her time with Marinette seems to consist of a lengthy conversation, the contents of which are unrecorded - possibly for the better - but by their body language in the few photos seemed to have been on the less pleasant end of things.|_

_Now, of course, this raised more questions, but two visitors does not a conspiracy make.|_

_It was when that number bumped up to **three**  that I began to wonder if something deeper was going on.|_

_Rena Rouge|_

Alya smiled at the screen. Writing about Rena Rouge always felt just the slightest bit narcissistic, but her fans were hungry for information, and who was she to deny them?

_Rena Rouge, the fox hero, was the third to visit Marinette. It was a brief, comfortable encounter|_

Alya caught herself just in time.

_Rena Rouge, the fox hero, was the third to visit Marinette. It was a brief, comfortable encounter (judging by the video evidence submitted to me at the time), and it seemed both parties were amicable, if not enriched, by the time the hero left.|_

_Even the fourth visitor, Carapace (the city’s most underrated hero), appeared to have positive rapport with the lady of the hour. He even got a kiss to the cheek, something none of the other heroes received.|_

_At this point, all of the main team of superheros - apart from Ladybug herself - had come to visit, and it became clear just how **unclear**  the reason for it all was.|_

_For one superhero, it may have been a moment of weakness; coming to touch base with someone they cared for against the team’s strict doctrine of **any**  clues to their true identities being strictly forbidden. Two heroes implies some connection, which, given that Queen Bee’s identity is, in fact, known, and that that identity is already connected with Marinette herself, is a dangerous train of thought to board.|_

_Three heroes, however, throws the idea of the motivations being personal away. Chat Noir may have sought comfort, and Queen Bee conflict, but Rena Rouge and Carapace did not want any such things.|_

Alya took a sip of her water and continued.

_So, then, if it’s not personal motivations, what are they coming to her for?|_

_There are a number of possibilities.|_

She had to be careful. Her task was to lead her readers down the wrong paths, at least for this.

She sat back in her chair and huffed.

Each hero had been to see Marinette for their own reasons. None had consulted the others, none even knew (apart from herself, of course) that any of the others had done the same.

After Nino’s visit, Ladybug had scolded them thoroughly and then laughed at them for being so silly.

Oddly enough, it had been Chat Noir that defended visiting the girl, with a strangely heartfelt and swaying speech about her merits and how she made him feel, and despite his profuse denial of accusations of feelings for her, stood by his decision to visit her.

Ladybug had been floored, and after the remainder of the team had sounded their agreements with the cat, she conceded that he couldn’t exactly stop them.

But what she could do, and did end up doing, was implore Alya to throw the readers of the Ladyblog off the scent of Marinette for her protection, and Alya was eager to oblige.

Alya cracked her knuckles and went back to writing.

_The first idea that comes to mind is that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is some kind of civilian assistant to the team. Perhaps she provides some service they cannot find elsewhere. Marinette is known to be skilled in textiles and design, so perhaps she is the real world Edna Mode, tasked with the upkeep of the supersuits.|_

_It may also be a simpler service, such as providing refreshment, since the heroes are known to need various foods to recharge their powers (and, additionally, fatigue can hit you in places supersuits don’t cover) and I’m sure living above a bakery that your family owns allows a pretty varied selection of refreshments to offer a team of five.|_

_Or, even, a more intensive service, such as a spy or informant. It is obvious that Marinette is well known in the city of Paris, and she has a lot of connections through her schoolmates, through her work, and through her social life. It’s entirely possible the superheroes ask her to inform them about their city from the ground level.|_

_Whatever the reason, it is unlikely that the team would let themselves see her for any reason other than a practical one. If it were romantic in nature, there would only be one, not all four. If it were even a matter of affection, Ladybug would have forbidden them from seeing her at the risk of letting their identities slip.|_

_All of this is only speculation, of course, and the probability that it’s wildly inaccurate is as high as Snoop Dogg|_

Alya snickered.

_All of this is only speculation, of course, and the probability that it’s wildly inaccurate is |high._

_If you want my theory, bugheads, it’s this: we’re all well aware that Marinette Dupain-Cheng finds herself tangled up with akuma activity on the regular. Call it bad luck, call it coincidence (call it suspicious, even, if you like), but the fact remains; Marinette gets herself into a lot of trouble, and the heroes know that as well as we do by now.|_

_They’ve probably just grown attached to this little catastrophe-magnet that keeps crossing their paths, and decided as a team to check on her regularly to make sure she’s staying out of trouble.|_

_And honestly, doesn’t that speak to how much they care for this city and everyone who lives in it? We have no clue who these people are, or where they came from, but they’ll still take time out of their day to visit one disaster-prone baker’s daughter and make sure she’s doing alright.|_

_And we all know that there’s more than one way to defeat an akuma, Ladybug or no, so sentiments like that are honestly what make them real heroes.|_

_At least to me, anyway.|_

_Alya out.|_

Alya smiled and published the post, and hoped her community would agree.

She looked at the clock, panicked a little, and rushed to brush her teeth and get ready for bed.

Half an hour after she fell asleep, a message came from Ladybug, thanking her.


End file.
